Has Cook talked himself OFF the Bills for 2025

[Big Blitz]

One thing not talked about enough is that he’s going to be 26 in September.  
 

Is it term?  I’m not sure he’s going to get much better beyond his age 27 and 28 seasons and the Bills feel that way as well.  
 

This isn’t a 24 year old RB coming off 3 years of top 5 RB dominance in the league.   

 

[Logic]

I think he'll be a Bill in 2025. If he doesn't get a contract, I believe he'll skip all voluntary activities and OTAs and then report for training camp.

 

Now...has he talked himself off the team in 2026? Maybe.

I still think Beane and McDermott like and want to re-sign him, but if he prices himself in a way that Beane doesn't find tenable, I can see Beane letting him walk.

As I've mentioned before, I hope Beane lets him walk either way. I think there are much better ways to spend big money in the 2025 NFL than handing a second contract to a non-elite running back who doesn't pass block well and gets subbed out on 3rd downs.

Edited 19 hours ago by Logic

[Jay_Fixit]

1 hour ago, Shaw66 said:

Hah!

 

No comment?

 

Or, no, the Bills don't need a high priced back?

He means no to the question in the thread title.

[BillsFanForever19]

We have a 64 page James Cook thread about this already...

 

 

Edited 19 hours ago by BillsFanForever19

[MJS]

I guess we'll see. Let Beane figure it out.

[ganesh]

James Cook means a lot to this offense. For the first time in Josh Allen's tenure, we actually had a capable back who could make a difference.   The Bills know it and with Brady's balanced offense philosophy, he will want a work horse back and Cook delivered that in 2024 even playing only 50% of the snaps.   

 

I think the Bills will get something done...Obviously, they are not going to pay him $20M / year like Barkley received.  

 

The Bills are also big on Davis...who can run the ball effectively and catch the ball (that 44 yard play was awesome) and Johnson...

 

If the Bills cannot find a path to a reasonable contract, then they will most likely trade him.  I also see the Bills spend a 3rd day pick on a speedy back.

 

If James is keen to win a SB, then he will sign for the $12M contract. 

[US Egg]

18 minutes ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

We have a 64 page James Cook thread about this already...

 

 

Nah, this one’s different. 🤭

[BarleyNY]

2 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

Bills don't have to do it but for the cap experts on here ..... can teams add incentives to the final year of a rookie contract to make him shut up on social media?

Rookie contracts can be modified, extended or replaced after year 3, so yes. 

[oldmanfan]

3 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Hah!

 

No comment?

 

Or, no, the Bills don't need a high priced back?

Hasn’t talked himself off

[DeepPass]

2 hours ago, bigduke6 said:

i really dont like the way this whole scene is seemingly going to play out.  simply cannot overpay in this league anymore unless its for a QB.   we've got Benford looking for a bag,  Cook,  other guys upcoming and the team hasnt really gotten better enough to get over the hump.  Beane is trying to fill holes with value at key spots because he needs to keep other people happy.  is RB a key spot?  id rather pay Benford even with all his injury concerns over Cook,  who absolutely deserve a pay increase mind you.  i dont envy Beane in this case.

Berane will get it right.  He signed Ty Johnson for 2 more years which gives the team a lot of leverage.  Do you know Ty ran a 4.3 on his Pro Day at Maryland?  He's a solid team guy!!

[Doc Brown]

1 hour ago, BarleyNY said:

Rookie contracts can be modified, extended or replaced after year 3, so yes. 

I just didn't know if they could be modified by adding extra incentives to the final year of the deal.  Thanks.  I assume they could give him $3 to $4m in likely to be earned incentives.  Correct?  I could see Beane doing something like that to avoid the awkward hold in type situation.

 

It's interesting to me that his brother was in the same situation where he ended up "sitting in" during training camp and the Vikings finally caved right before the start of the 2020 season giving him a five year $63m dollar extension with about $27m in guarantees.  He was a bell cow back though with more tread on the tires.  They knew he was spent only two years into his new deal and took a small dead cap hit because of it.  I'm wondering if James plays the same game his brother did.

Edited 17 hours ago by Doc Brown

[SoonerBillsFan]

6 hours ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

He’s the second most important person on our offense. Absolutely not. He will get paid and he will be worth it. He’s not just a guy he’s a difference maker 

I feel Davis can replace him.

[BuffaloBill]

6 hours ago, Rigotz said:

For 2025? No.

 

For 2026? Probably.

This^^^^

 

He is expressing contract expectations that outrun his style and capability of play. He is not a bell cow three down back.  

[ProcessTruster]

5 hours ago, The Cincinnati Kid said:

James Cook has Dalvin whispering in his ear and that’s probably a problem. Dalvin wasted his best years in the Arctic and doesn’t want his kid brother spending his whole career just below the treeline. My bet, Cook is a Falcon, Jaguar, Buccaneer, Dolphin, Texan, Ram or Charger within 2 full seasons.

yep.  I agree.   but Beane will be fair and make a solid offer.  

[Bleedbuffaloblue]

Definitely don’t like the idea of losing Cook for 2025, but if it comes down to him or Benford it might come down to depth behind these two players. IMO the depth behind Cook is considerably better than that behind Benford. Can’t believe that won’t be a big consideration here on Beane’s decision.

Cook is a nice RB, but top two or three salary wise I don’t think so. A few too many dropped TD passes for that title, plus he is not a three down RB. Hope they can come to a reasonable settlement with him, but if they can’t the team’s tolerance of malcontents leads me to believe he won’t be in a Bills uniform beyond 2025 if even that.

[Doc Brown]

4 hours ago, ganesh said:

If James is keen to win a SB, then he will sign for the $12M contract. 

A RB on a rookie deal shouldn't give a crap about a Super Bowl until he gets that big second contract imo.  The combination of the rookie wage scale and the integration of analytics depressed that position way more than others.  You only have a small window to make life altering money.  I don't think complaining on social media is helpful but I can't blame the guy to cash in when his stock is at an all time high.

 

FTR, I'm vehemently against giving Cook $12m per year.  I'd rather use that money to keep the o-line together as long as possible.

[Bills!Win!]

6 hours ago, Big Blitz said:

One thing not talked about enough is that he’s going to be 26 in September.  
 

Is it term?  I’m not sure he’s going to get much better beyond his age 27 and 28 seasons and the Bills feel that way as well.  
 

This isn’t a 24 year old RB coming off 3 years of top 5 RB dominance in the league.   

 

My goodness, now we are talking about 26 year olds being old. Why does everyone think age is so important? All of the best nfl players are usually good into their 30’s 

[gjv]

Next to Josh, Cook was the most effective skill player on our offense, not to mention he had the second most touches. It seems to me in the Brady offense, Cook's RB skill set is very important. Unless this skill set is easily replaceable, I would think Cook should be the second highest paid skill player on the offense.

[Captain_Quint]

7 hours ago, Mikie2times said:

Has DeepPass talked himself off twobillsdrive.com?

High probability, once CJ Spiller entered the conversation.

[K-9]

5 hours ago, ganesh said:

James Cook means a lot to this offense. For the first time in Josh Allen's tenure, we actually had a capable back who could make a difference.   The Bills know it and with Brady's balanced offense philosophy, he will want a work horse back and Cook delivered that in 2024 even playing only 50% of the snaps.   

 

I think the Bills will get something done...Obviously, they are not going to pay him $20M / year like Barkley received.  

 

The Bills are also big on Davis...who can run the ball effectively and catch the ball (that 44 yard play was awesome) and Johnson...

 

If the Bills cannot find a path to a reasonable contract, then they will most likely trade him.  I also see the Bills spend a 3rd day pick on a speedy back.

 

If James is keen to win a SB, then he will sign for the $12M contract. 

I agree with the larger point you’re making about Brady and his use of the running game. I’m a Cook fan and agree he is a difference maker, but “Work horse back” and “playing only 50% of the snaps” is a contradiction in terms.